


our love ain't water under the bridge

by kira_khaleesi



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Short One Shot, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kira_khaleesi/pseuds/kira_khaleesi
Summary: “Please.” He holds his hand out, hoping that Rey will see reason. That for once, somebody will choose him.Kylo holds his breath as she slowly raises her hand.His heart breaks when she pulls the saber from his hand, and he grunts from the effort of trying to keep it from her grasp. The last thing he sees before everything goes black is a flash of white.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17
Collections: 9 Squares Reylo Challenge, Kira's Songfics





	our love ain't water under the bridge

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt Word: DREAM (author's choice)  
> just a short drabble!

“Please.” He holds his hand out, hoping that Rey will see reason. That for once, somebody will choose him.

Kylo holds his breath as she slowly raises her hand.

His heart breaks when she pulls the saber from his hand, and he grunts from the effort of trying to keep it from her grasp. The last thing he sees before everything goes black is a flash of white.

****

When he wakes, she is gone and is on the floor of the throne room surrounded by the bodies of Snoke’s guard. He chokes Hux to stop him from sniveling, and they begin a ground pursuit of the remaining Resistance fighters.

There can’t be many of them.

After being embarrassed by the ghost of his uncle - for what is hopefully the last time - the day passes shrouded in shame at his failures. Failure to convince Rey to join him, failure to kill Luke Skywalker, failure to capture the Resistance.

The next year passes in a blur.

He scours the galaxy for Sith and Jedi artifacts, eager to learn all that he can about the Force and about the connection between the young Jedi from Jakku.

At some point, they receive a transmission from somebody claiming to be Emperor Palpatine. Kylo rolls his eyes at the dramatics of the message, but travels to Mustafar anyway to retrieve the so-called Wayfinder that will take him to the Sith planet Exegol.

Why it is a Wayfinder and not a Holocron, Kylo isn’t sure. It looks like a Holocron.

He follows the path to Exegol, and meets a rotting corpse who claims to be not only Palpatine, back from the dead, but Rey’s grandfather. It takes everything in Kylo not to kill the pile of wrinkled skin right there, but he holds back until he can have a chance to gain control of the Sith Fleet.

Many things happen over the next couple of days - he tracks Rey to Pasaana, where it seems she is seeking the second Wayfinder.

He tricks her into thinking that Chewbacca is dead, which even he can admit, is cruel and unnecessary.

After telling her about her parentage in an attempt to bring her to his side, she runs away. Kylo isn’t sure what he expected, after all, she didn’t choose him last time. Why he thought her genealogy would change he, he isn’t sure.

Eventually, they end up on the ruins of the second Death Star.

He destroys her Wayfinder, in a last ditch attempt to convince her that they can do this together.

She refuses, and they fight.

In a confusing turn of events, his mother calls to him in the Force for the first time since he was a boy. Distracted, Rey is able to land a killing blow, stabbing him through the gut with his own weapon. He falls, heaving as he feels the life leave his body.

From his spot on the ground, he looks up at Rey, bewildered.

He didn’t think she actually wanted to kill him.

With tears in her eyes - he can’t be certain, given the rain, but he thinks they are tears - she places a hand on his chest and closes her eyes. A feeling of warmth washes over him.

“I did want to take your hand.” Rey murmurs. “Ben’s hand.”

And then she runs away, stealing his ship.

Everything else that follows is somewhat difficult to parse, but as he experiences it, he talks to his father and then goes to rescue Rey.

He kills the Knights of Ren, who turn out to really not be that formidable at all, and arrives just in time to face Palpatine at Rey’s side. Unfortunately, things don’t really work out from there.

Kylo gets tossed into a pit, breaking his leg and several ribs. When he climbs out of the pit he is greeted by the site of Rey’s lifeless body. Making his way to her, pained as he is, he sits next to her and pulls her into his arms.

Holding her close, he wonders if he’d be able to do what she did for him on Kef Bir. If he can heal her with his life Force.

“Ben.”

She says his name when she stirs, gifting him with the most beautiful grin he has ever seen.

Rey kisses him, holding him close, and when she pulls away, he smiles for the first time in years. The last thing he sees before everything goes black is concern flashing across her face.

****

He wakes with a start, sitting up to take stock of his surroundings.

Kylo is on the floor of the throne room, surrounded by the bodies of Snoke’s guards. The room is on fire, and the floor rumbles ominously every couple of seconds.

Getting to his feet, he blinks a couple of times in rapid succession, realizing that everything he just experienced was a dream. If it wasn’t for the dire situation he finds himself in currently, on a ship that seems to be collapsing, he’d laugh at the sheer absurdity of the dream. At himself, for ever thinking that it could have been real.

Across the room, a pained moan sounds.

He stands, and then rushes forward when he realizes where the sound came from.

It’s Rey.

She is just waking up.

Rey eyes him warily as he comes to stand near here, crouching and holding out his hand to help her up.

“Wait.” He retracts his hand to remove the gloves, before reaching out once more.

She takes it, and they escape the ruined ship.

Together.

* * *

_If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently._

_Don't pretend that you don't want me._

**Author's Note:**

> title from "Water Under the Bridge" by Adele.


End file.
